Signaling apparatus for telephone systems.



. R. G. WELTY. SIGNALING APPARATUS POR TELEPHONE SYSTEMS.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 2,1908.

Patented Dee. 7, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

* R. G. WELTY. SIGNALING APPARATUS Pon TELEPHONE s YSTEMS.

Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z I] 1 xk APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2,1908.

a we C R. C. WELTY. SIGNALING' APPARATUS POR TELEPHONE SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2,1908.

Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

9421763 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 'UNTD TATF@ FATCFLNT @FFMFL ROSCOE CLYDE VVELTY, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

SIGNALING APEARATUS FOR TELEPHNE SYSTEMS.

Application led .Tune 2, 1908.

To all whom t may concern."

Be it known that l, Roscoe CLYDE VELTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Signaling Apparatus for Telephone Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ringing apparatus for party line telephone systems and relates more particularly to a system in which the selective signaling method is employed, whereby the various bells are operated by currents in different directions or of different polarities.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of apparatus of this character so as to be comparatively easy and inexpensive to install and maintain in repair, and thoroughly reliable and ellicient in use.

Another' object of the invention is the provision of a four party line in which bias polarized ringers of the same construction are employed, and in combination with which are condensers connected in series with the windings of the ringers whereby the latter may be operated by either the current charging' condensers or the current incident to the discharge of the condensers, the windings of the ringers being so disposed that the magnetic fluxes will be such that only one ringer will respond to a particular current or combination of currents.

A further object is the employment of a novel form of ringing machine including commutator, collector and discharge rings for producing the various circuits to actuate the individual ringers, and more particularly to actuate one ringer by positive currents flowing over both line wires simultaneously, the second ringer by negative currents passing over both line wires simultaneously, the third ringer by a positive current over one wire and a negative current over the second wire, and the fourth ringer by a negative current over the lirst line wire and a positive current over the second line wire simultaneously.

lith these objects in view and others, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1909. Serial No. 436,262.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate certain embodiments of the invention, Figure l is a diagrammatic view of a four party line ringing circuit having a ringing machine whereby the ringers are actuated by charging currents. Fig. la is a section on line a-a, Fig. l. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing a modified form of ringing' machine whereby the currents incident to the discharge of the condensers is employed for actuating the ringers or bells. Figs. 3 to 6 illustrate modified forms of ringing machines of the condenser discharging type. Fig'. 7 is a modilied form of ringing` machine of the condenser charging type.

imilar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Two methods are employed for ringing the bells, and according to the first, any particular bell is actuated by current passing simultaneously through both windings thereof during the charging of the condensers, and in the second method the ringing' of any particular bell is produced by currents incident or accompanying the discharge of the condensers. rlhe polarized ringers are so designed and the windings so connected in circuit that current flowing through one winding at a time will have no ringing effect. Hence, under the lirstmethod there are three successive currents necessary for each actuation of the armature of a ringer: lirst, the simultaneous currents passing' through each and every ringer; second, current passing through one winding of each ringer or bell from one condenser; and third, the current flowing through the second winding of each ringer from the other condenser; whereas, under the discharging method, the corresponding condensers of each and every ringer are charged by the first current, the other condensers by the second current, and both condensers of each and every ringer simultaneously discharged for operating that particular ringer in which the magnetic flux is proper for ringing the bells.

teferring to the drawings, A, A1, A2, A3, are the ringers or bells of a four selective signaling system, these ringers being of the polarized bias armature type. Fach ringer comprises cores l and 2 that are connected together at their ends to form a closed niagnetic circuit, and on the ends are pole pieces 3 and 4t that may be, respectively, positive and negative or vice versa, according to the CII llO

arrangement of the windings and the direction or' flow of current therethrough. Presented to the po-le pieces ar'e the opposite ends of an ar'mature 5 t-.hat carries a tapper or hammer 6 in the usual manner that is adapted to strike the gongs 7, there being the usual permanent magnet 8 for polarizing the cores and armature. T he windings of the electro-magnets of each ringer' and of one ringer' with respect to another bear detinite relations to each other so that currents can be passed simultaneously through all the ringers with a response in only one. The windings fw, fw ot' ringer A are reversely wound as are also the windings of the ringer A1, but it is to be noted that the corresponding windings ot' both such ringers are reversed; that is to say, the winding w or' ringer A is reversely arranged with respect to the winding LU of ringer A1, this being also true of the windings tu. The windings to, w', of ringer' A2 are wound similarly as are also the windings of the ringer A3 but the windings of the latter are reversed with respect to those of the ringer A2. By this arrangement, only one ringer will become operative by currents liowing in a certain direction or oi certain polarity. For instance, when the currents are such as to cause the ringer A to operate, the iiuxes in the cores 1 and 2 ot' such ringer will buck each other and give the proper' polarity to the pole pieces. The same currents in the windings of the ringer' A1 produce bucking magnetisms in the cores thereof in such a direction as to render' the pole pieces of improper' polarity, while the currents passing through the windings of r'ingers A2 and A* will be in such directions as to cause the liuxes to pass continuously through the cores of the respective ringers without producing any perceptible polarity in the pole pieces. rl`he cor'responding terminals of the windings fw, w of each r'inger are connected at a common point S) that is connected to the ground 10 by the wire 11, and the other terminals of the said windings are connected, respectively, with the line wir'es Z, Z in which ar'e arranged condcnser's C, C, respectively.

At the main station or exchange is a ringing machine B which comprises an induction or other motor M that has mounted on its shaft 12 a suitable arrangement oiI collector, discharge and commutator rings for establishing various circuits for actuating any desired ringer'. In Fig. 1, the ringing machine is designed to cause the ringers to cooperate by current utilized in charging the condensers, and continuous current is employed which, by means of the commutators, is converted into pulsating currents. For this purpose, the ringing machine B comprises a pair of collector rings c, c, discharge rings (Z, (Z1, (Z2, and commutator' rings -701 The collector ring c is connected with the positive side of a negative grounded battery B and the collector ring c is connected with the negative side of a positive grounded battery B. The commutator rings are connected to the line wires L, L, by means of keys a, al, a2, c3, that respectively control a pair' of wires 13, 14, which bridge the line wires and lead to the commutator rings. These commutator rings are provided with metal commutator' bar's 15 with segments of insulation 16 between them and, in the present instance, siX commutator rings are employed, the ring 7a being connected with the key at, the ring k1 with the key a2, rings 71:2, 7c3 with the key al, and the rings 7a4, 765 with the key a. The metal parts of the commutator rings are connected with the collector' rings c, 0, byI wires 17 and 18. The positive collector' ring c is connected by the wire 17 with the rings 7c, 7c2 and 7c", while the negative collector' ring c is connected byl the wire 1S to the rings 731, 71:, 7.24. The wires 1B and 14k are connected with their appropriate connnutator rings by brushes 15'), and it is to be noted that the metal par'ts or commutator' bars 15 of these rings ar'e so arranged that any pair of brushes will make contact with the commutator' bars so as to complete the circuits simultaneously, thus charging the lcondensers at one time. The discharge or grounding ring Z is similar.' to the collector rings and is grounded by a wire Q0 that is connected with the brush Q1 which constantly contacts with the grounding ring CZ. The other discharge rings (Z1, (Z2, are constructed like the commutator rings except that the metal parts of commutator bars 22 are so arranged that those on one ring will be in advance or' the corresponding ones of the other ring. The metal parts of these rings (Z1, (Z2, are connected by a wire Q3 with the grounding ring (Z. Bridging each pair' or' key wires 13 and 1st ar'e the grounding wires 24 and which, by means of brushes 26 and 27, are adapted to connect, respectively, with the discharge rings (71, 72. It

will be understood that the various rings will be insulated from each other and from the shaft, as for instance, by means of a bushing 9.8 surrounding the shaft at each ring, Fig. la.

Normally, the keys or jacks cZ-cr are open and when it is desired to signal any particular subscriber on the party line, it is merely necessary to plug in or close the key controlling` the r'inger or bells of such subscriber. For instance, suppose it is desired to r'ing subscriber' A. To do this, the key or switch a is closed as shown in F ig. 1 by the insertion of a plug or equivalent means. lt will be observed that the brushes 19 of the commutator rings 71:4, 7c, are out of contact with the commutator bars, and as soon as (EIT the nearest bars reach the brushes by the rotation of the motor shaft 12, current will tlow simultaneously through both line wires, the current being' supplied by both batteries B, B. That is to say, current flows through the path consisting of the batteries B, B, in series, collector ring c, wire 17, commutator vring Zr, wire 13 ot key or jack a, line wire L, wires Z of all the ringers, each and every condenser C, winding zo ot' the ringers, wii'idings w, condensers C, wires Z, line wire L, wire lil ot' key a, commutator ring le", wire 18, and batteries. he direction ot' flow of current is indicated by the arrows designated 1, and it will be noted that the current is positive on one side of the line and negative on the other. The condensers are thus charged and the How ot current, for this purpose, will produce by the windings of the ringer A, a buckling magnetic flux in the cores which develop the proper polarity for actuating' the armature 5 of the ringer A. There will also be a bucking tlux in the ringer A1, but the polarity will be reverse to that in ringer A, so that the armature thereof will not be actuated. The flow ot the fluxes in the magnetic circuits of the ringers A2, A3, will be such that the pole pieces will be neutral. The brushes are in contact with the metal parts oit the commutator rings Zat, but for an instant, and as the motor shaft revolves, the brushes 26, 27, are successively brought into contact with the metal parts ot the discharging rings (Z1, (Z2, so that the corresponding condensers ot' all the ringers will be connected to ground at one instant and the other corresponding condensers connected with ground at another instant, thus discharging the condensers in time to permit them to be immediately recharged by the brushes 19 coming into contact with the next commutator bars of the rings Zit, Zi'f. This simultaneous charging' and successive discharging oit the condensers takes place in rapid succession, so that there will be an eitective ringing' of the bell A.

lllhen the subscriber at the ringer A1 is to be signaled, the plug or jack a? is inserted so that currents will pass through the line wires and ringer wires in reverse direction, as .indicated by the arrows designated 2, thus causing the polarity in the electromagnets of the ringers A, A1, to be reversed so that the latter will be active and the former inactive. The electro magnets of the ringers A2, A3, will still be neutral, but the magnetic tluxes in each will be reversed.

lVhen the jack a2 is connected in circuit tor the purpose of signaling to the subscriber at A2, current will flow from the battery B through a path consisting' of the wire 30 connected with the positive side of such battery, the ground wires 11 ot the` ringers, both windings ot' the latter, condensers C, C, wires Z, Z, L, L, wires 13,

14 of the key a2, commutator ring Zal, wire 18, collector ring c, and battery B, the direction of llow being indicated by the arrows designated 3. This flow of current which charges the condensers will. produce neutral fluxes in the cores of ringers A, A1, and bucking fluxes in the cores ot' ringers A2, A3, the flux in the former being in proper direction to develop the required polarity for operating' the armature and sounding the gongs. The condensers are successively discharged by means ot the discharging rings so that the condensers will be in condition for receiving the next successive charging current. By thus successively simultaneously charging and separately discharging the condensers, the ringer A? will be sounded as long as the key a2 is closed. When the key a3 is closed, the charging current will flow from the battery B through wire 17, commutator ring 7c, wires 13 and let ot' key a3, line wires L, L, all the wires Z, Z, condensers C, C connected therewith, both windings of each and every ringer, ground wires 11, and by way of the ground to the negative side ot battery B. rlhis charging current will flow in the proper direction to operate the ringer A3, while the others will be idle. The condensers are successively discharged, as before, by connecting them separately to ground through the agency of the discharge rings cZ, (Z1, (Z2. lt will thus be seen that any desired subscriber can be signaled without operating the ringers at the other subscribers stations. It desired, the principle can be carried out in connection with eight, twelve or sixteen party line systems, it being merely necessary to tune the polarized armatures ot the ringers of each set of four machines and by adding additional ringing machines at the central exchange tor each additional four subscribers, each ringing machine generating a current of given frequency.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the system operating by simultaneously discharging the condensers for actuating' the ringers will be described. The ringers and their connection with the line wires are the same as illustrated in Fig'. 1, the sole ditterence being in the construction ot the ringing machine lt The induction or other motor M has upon its shaft 12 two groups of rings 1' and i", one group serving to connect the ringers or bells in circuit to actuate two such bells, and the other group for connecting the bells in circuit for actuating the remaining two bells. The group r consists ot a grounded discharge ring 30, collector rings 31, 32, commutator rings 33, 34:, 35, 36, and a discharging ring 3T common to all the commutator rings. rlhe wires 13, 111 of the key a2 are connected with the rings 35, 36, and the corresponding wires oit' the key a3 are connected with the commutator rings 33,

34, and these two sets of wires are bridged by wires 38 and 39 to the common discharge ring 37. The discharge ring 37 is connected by a wire 40 with the grounded ring 30 and the collector rings 31, 32, are connected respectively, by wires 41, 42, to the positive and negative sides of the batteries that are each grounded by wires 43, 44. The collector ring 31 is connected by a wire 45 wit-h commutator rings 33, 34, while the connector ring 32 is connected by wire 46 with commutator rings 35, 36. rThe group 1" consists of two collector rings 47, 48, commutator rings 49, 50, 51, 52, and a discharge ring 53 for connecting both sides of circuits in discharging the condenser simultaneously when operating either of two of the ringers or bells. The collector rings 47 and 48 are connected, respectively, by wires 54, 55, with the positive and negative sides of batteries b2, b3, that have their opposite sides grounded by wires 56, 57. The collector ring 47 is connected by wires 58, 59, with commutator rings 49, 52, respectively, while the collector ring 48 is connected by Wires 60, 61, with the commutator rings 50, 51. The wires 13, 14, of the key a are adapted to connect with the conmiutator rings 49, 50, and the corresponding wires of key a are adapted to connect with the commutator rings 50, 51, and these two sets of wires are connected by bridging wires 62, 63, with the ring 53. lt will be noted that the metal segments or bars of the commutator rings for each key are arranged one in advance of another so that the two sets of condensers will be charged successively, so that the charging currents will not cause the ringers to operate.

In practice, the key for any desired subscriber' is closed so as to thereby create a succession of three currents, namely, the currents for charging one set of condensers, the current for charging the other set, and the current resulting from connecting both sides of the circuit together to permit the condensers to simultaneously discharge for those ringing the desired bell. For instance, when the key a is closed, current flows from battery b2, wire 54, collector ring 47, wire 58, commutator 49, wire 13 of key a, line wire L, wires Z, condensers C of the ringers, windings fw of the latter, wires 11, ground, battery b2. As the motor shaft revolves, the other side of the circuit is completed by the ring 50 coming into contact with the brush connected with the wire 14, and current passes from the battery 3 g through the wire 57, ground, wires 11 oi' the ringers, windings w, condensers C, wire Z, line wire L, key wire 14, commutator 50, wire 60, collector' ring 48, wire 55, battery b3. By this current, the second set of condensers are charged. By the further rotary movement of the motor shaft, one of the metal parts or segments 0i' the ring 53 comes into play and the opposite sides of the circuit-s will be connected so as to permit the condensers to discharge and produce a current which is utilized for operating the ringer A. Vhen the key al isv closed, the flow of current for separately charging the condensers of t-he ringers will be in the opposite direction i'rom the Aflow of current when the key a was closed, and also when the condensers discharge the flow of current will be reversed so that the ringer A1 will be operated. To signal the subscriber at ringer A2, the key a2 is closed, thus charging one set of condensers of the ringers by current flowing from the battery b1, wire 44, ground, wires 11, windings w, condensers C, wires Z,

line wire L, wire 14 of key a2, commutator' ring 35, wire 46, connecting ring 32, wire 42, and battery b2. The other set of condensers is immediately charged when the commutator 36 comes into contact with the brush of t-he wire 13 connected with key a2. Current then flows from the battery b, through wire 42, collector ring 32, wire 46, commutator ring 36, wire 13, line wire L, ringer wires Z, windings fw of the ringers, ground wires 111, ground, and battery b. Both sets of condensers are thus charged, and as soon as the opposite sides of the circuit are connected by wires 38, 39, with the discharging ring 37, the condensers will be grounded by wires 40, ring 30, and grounded wire 64. By repetition of these sets of currents, the ringer A2 will be actuated. Upon closing the key a3, the same circuits described in connection with the operation of ringer A2 will be closed and opened in regular order, but in such a manner as to produce a reverse flow of current for the purpose of actuating ringer A3 as will be readily understood.

rlhe ringing machine in Fig. 1 is of the eleven ring charging type and that in Fig. 2 is oi' the iifteen ring discharging type. Referring now to Fig. 3, a twelve ring inachine is illustrated that is adapted for use in operating the bells on the party line by discharge oi' the condensers. The several pairs of wires 13, 14, are connected, respectively, with separate pairs of commutator rings 65, a, 65h, 65, and the metal segments or bars of the rings of each pair are staggered or arranged one in advance of another, so that the charging circuits will be completed successively. All the wires leading to the keys are connected to common bridging wires 66 that are provided with brushes 67 bearing on a common discharge ring 68, which ring is connected by a wire 69 with a grounded discharging ring 70. The current for charging the condensers is derived from batteries 71 arranged in the same manner shown in Fig. 1, and connected respectively with collector rings 72, 73. The

ring 72 is connected by wire 74- with both commutator rings 05, and one ring of each pair h, 65C, while the other collector ring 73 is connected by wire 7 5 with both com-` mutator rings (35L and the other rings of the pairs 65", 65C. Tn Fig. t, a thirteen ring or disk ringing machine is disclosed for actuating the bells by discharging of the condensers. This machine is composed of a grounded discharging disk 7 6, and collector rings or disks 77, 7 8. The ringing keys each have a pair of commutator rings 79, 7 9a, 79D, 79C, the iirst two being connected by wire 80 to collector ring 77 and the second two by the wire 81 to the collector ring 78. The collector ring 77 is also connected by a wire 82 with one ring of each pair 79, 79, and the collector ring 78 is connected by wire 83 with the other rings of the two pairs 79h, 79C. Two discharge rings 84:, 85, are connected with the grounding discharging ring 76 by wire 86, and the ring 84 is connected b y wires 87, 88, with the wires 13 of two of the keys, while the discharging ring 85 is connected by wires 89, 90, with the wires 13, let, of the other two keys.

Fig. 5 is a ringing machine in which sixteen rings or disks are employed, the commutators and the discharging disks being so arranged as to cause the successive charging of both sets of condensers of the ringers or bells and the simultaneous discharge of the condensers. There are two collector rings 91, 92, that are connected with batteries in the same manner previously described and there are two groups 93, 9st, of three rings or disks and two groups 95, 96, of four rings each. Two rings of each group are connected with the wires 13, 1st, of the various keys or jacks and the wires 13, 14, of the groups 93, 9st, are each connected with a discharge ring 97, the discharge rings being connected, respectively, with the collector rings 91, 92, the other rings of the group being commutator disks. Of the groups 95, 9G, the rings 98, 99, are discharge rings and are connected with the wires 13, 14, controlling' the other two ringers or bells and the remaining two rings of each group are connected with the collector rings 91, 92.

F G is a ringing machine similar to that shown in Fig. 5 except that an ext-ra pair of collector rings 100, 101, are employed which are connected in circuit during the discharging of the condensers for ringing two of the bells so as to connect in a battery o for the purpose of adding to the strength of the current incident t0 the discharge of the condensers, this arrangement being especially useful in l ong line systems. It will be noted that these collector rings 100, 101, are connected with the discharge rings of the groups 95, 9G. When the discharge from the condensers takes place by the discharge .rings of groups 93, 94, one or the other of the batteries 71 will be in circuit so that it will intensify the current at the time of discharge of the condensers. Referring now to Fig. 7, it will be observed that the ringing machine is of the charging type like that shown in Fig. 1, except that it is equipped with a battery (7)5 that is connected with collector rings 102, 103, that are in turn connected with the commutator rings 7a2, 7c3, ist, 765, for supplying' current to ring two of the bells, while the current to ring the other bells is derived from the batteries B, B.

lVith a signaling system of this character, reliable and eiiicient service is rendered and it does away with the necessity of relays and of having tuned armatures, and furthermore, each bell is identical in construction. lt is also to be observed that a four, eight, twelve, or sixteen party line can be constructed, it being necessary merely to tune the armature of each group of four subscribers having ringing machines of different frequencies.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while T have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, l desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired, as are within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. In a party-line telephone system, a ringer consisting of separate cores connected together to form a closed magnetic circuit, pole pieces connected with the cores, a biased armature disposed in cooperative relation with the pole pieces, windings on the cores, means for connecting windings together at one end and to ground, lead wires connected with the opposite ends of the windings, and condensers disposed in series with the lead wires.

2. ln a telephone signaling system, the combination of a plurality of ringers each having separat-e windings and responsive to current passing simultaneously through both windings in a given direction, and a ringing machine for producing current through the corresponding windings simultaneously, and another current through the other windings, and a current simultaneously through the windings of each and every ringer in a given direction for operating only one of the latter.

3. In a telephone signaling system, the

combination of a plurality of polarized ringers having biased armatures and each having its windings different than those of the remaining ringers whereby each ringer responds to a predetermined set of currents, condensers connected in series one for each of said windings, means for grounding the windings, a ringing machine for connecting -all the ringers in circuit, and keys for conmaining ringers whereby each ringer re-..

spends to a predetermined set of currents, condensers connected in series one for each of said windings, means for grounding the windings, a ringer machine including separate means for producing a given set of currents, and keys or switches for connecting any current-producing means in circuit to actuate a predetermined ringer, said ring-ing machine comprising a rotary shaft, means for driving the same, commutators mounted on the shaft and insulated from each other, brushes bearing on the connnutators for connecting the ringers in circuit, collector rings mounted on the shaft, connections between the said rings and commutators, grounded batteries, electrical connections between the batteries and collector rings, and means for effecting the discharge of the condensers.

5. In a ringing machine for a selective signaling party line telephone system, the combination of a plurality of comm utator elements, collector rings electrically connected with the elements in a certain order, means for connecting a given element or elements in the telephone circuit, means for rotating the elements and rings together, oppositely-disposed batteries connected respectively with the collector rings and connected with the ground, and discharge rings rotating with th-e other rings and periodically connected in circuit. l

6. In a telephone signaling system, a ringing machine comprising a motor and its shaft, commutator rings mounted on the shaft, collector rings mounted on the shaft, a battery having its positive side connected with one of the collector rings and its negative side grounded, another' battery having its negative side connected with the other collector ring and its positive side grounded, means for electrically connecting one of the lcollector rings with certain of the commutator rings, means for electrically connecting the other collector ring with the remaining commutator ring, wires for connecting any given commutator ring or rings in the telephone circuit, and means for periodically grounding those wires connected with the commutator rings and telephone system.

7. In a ringing machine for selective sig- ,v naling party line telephone systems, the coinbination of a plurality of commutator rings arranged to rotate together, collector rings, oppositely-disposed grounded batteries connected with the collector rings, a second set of collector rings, a battery connected in series with the rings of the second set, wires for connecting any commutator ring or rings in the telephone circuitmeans for connecting the collector rings with one set separately with certain commutator rings, means for connecting the other collector rings with the remaining commutator rings separately, and discharge rings connected with the said wires. l

8. In a telephone system, a ringer having separate windings connect-ed to ground at one end, wires connected with the opposite ends of the windings and including condensers, means for producing currents simultaneously through the windings for operatin g the riugers, and means for producing current through the windings separately.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROSCOE CLYDE VVELTY. lVitnesses E. M. MiLLnR, BEN N. BoYsEN. 

